I shot approx 20 rounds in my Savage 30/06 the other night, and when I got home and examined my brass prior to reloading, I noticed that several of them wouldn't stand up on end; the primers were substantially backed out of the primer pocket. All the rounds were loaded with the same charge, which was not by any means close to the maximum charge for the 110 grain Hornady V-Max bullets I was using. I was just wondering what could be the possible culprit.....no case splitting or cracks were observed, and the brass was Winchester that I've reloaded 3 or four times. Thanks for any ideas.

You may have to low a pressure. On firing the cartrdge is driven forward to the shoulder of the chamber, then the pressure forces the primer back slightly against the bolt, followed by the head of the cartridge being pushed back and stretching the case slightly. Lower pressure loads may not have enough pressure to stretch the case so the process stops after the primer is pushed back.
In many cases there will also be some blackening of the otside of the case neck from not sealing quickly and tightly enough to prevent some leakage.
If the loads are below the max try moving up a lttle bit.

I believe Jim Watson is correct. I have personally been through this myself.
Before you crank up the charge, try it again without pushing the shoulder back so far. Case Guage is the answer, but if you don't have one, back the sizing die out and try to chamber. If it doens't chamber, continue to push shoulder back till it does. Try it again, bet you will find the solution.

Thanks guys for the excellent suggestions. I definitely should have a headspace gauge on my bench, and I will try to get one soon. As soon as you mentioned black fouling on the neck of the case, I thought "Yep, that's one other thing I observed but forgot to include in my original post." I aim to check the headspace, and then review the load for possible upward adjustment. I have chrono'd several of these rounds and it seems to be in the neighborhood of what Lyman's says.

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